


Mean It Truly

by Mynx (orphan_account)



Category: South Park
Genre: Alternate Universe - Nanny, Background Relationships, Domestic, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Angst, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Kid Fic, M/M, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-26
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-03-19 16:58:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3617355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Mynx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>If you were to list ten jobs to a child Tweek, the one he would eventually become would have never even occurred to him. “That’s not a funny joke, dude,” he would have said. "I'm gonna be a mad scientist."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoy this! I came up with this idea because of some weird dream I had, and then I couldn't let it go. I'm going to try to post one chapter per month! This story already has an [8tracks playlist](http://8tracks.com/mynxalicious/i-m-a-wreck-and-i-know-it). (I also totally didn't mean for this first chapter to blow up as large as it did, but expect most of the chapters to be around this length.)
> 
> There's not enough Creek in my day-to-day life, so here's me helping out the fandom.

It sounded like the house was coming down around his ears.

Tweek had never heard such an ungodly crash like he did a moment before. His heart jumped into the bottom of his throat, and a hand actually came up to clutch his shirt over where it was beating wildly. “Molly?” he called as he hurried out of the kitchen-- where he had been preparing her dinner-- and into the hallway leading back to the bedrooms. “Molly!?”

He had pointedly not gone into Craig’s room, because he figured the man deserved some kind of respite. He now had a twitchy blond who lived with him, as well as his daughter who seemed to permeate everything. Tweek was still trying to organize her toys with little to no success. He reached out and pushed Craig’s door open, glancing around the frame to peer inside. It was dark-- not just because the lights weren’t on and it was evening, but also because he kept it painted a dark green with heavier accents scattered about.

“Molly!” he hissed as he took a step inside. It felt wrong to be invading his employer’s room like this, but he really had no choice. He had to grab his charge and drag her back out into the living room, maybe chastise her for being a little shit. It was only his first week! He hadn’t thought that children could be this hard to pin down and handle! He now felt a little more ashamed for the crazy ways he acted in his youth to his own parents.

But… what had that crash been?

In a corner of the room is where he found his answer. A large bookshelf-- what had once been a large one anyway-- had tumbled over and crashed to the ground. Somehow a few of the shelves had been broken out and laid scattered on the floor, in a manner that made it look like someone had tried to shove them back into place. “Molly,” he said and dread was pooling in his stomach.

“It was an accident!” said the dark haired girl, who had turned to stare rebelliously up at him. “It just tipped over out of nowhere!”

Craig’s things were strewn around the room from the force of the fall, some knick knacks outright shattered and beyond repair. Tweek stared quietly at each of them, before looking back at the little six-year-old before him. It had been a week so far, but it was only just now dawning on him how chaotic and _stressful_ this new job was going to be.

“Molly, what did you do?”

“I was only playing! It wasn’t me!” she cried out and looking indignant that Tweek would seem to think this was her fault at all. “It didn’t have to go flying over like that! Daddy is gonna be so upset, but it wasn’t my fault!”

What had Tweek gotten himself into…?

***

_Around One Month Ago_

 

There’s a rustle from the corner of the office.

At first, she attempts to ignore it. She had agreed to help only as a favor to his brother, but so far he’s only been an annoyance, more of an inconvenience than anything. She hadn’t realized he was quite as bad as her friend was always hinting towards. Annie keeps her eyes on her paperwork as she diligently marks off any notes in a spare notebook. She has a lot of au pair applications to go through, and not nearly enough time in her days to get through them all.

Another sound of shifting legs comes from the corner of the office, and she just barely tamps down on her impulse to scowl at the person.

 _They might be a good addition to the program,_ Annie tells herself, tapping her pen against her bottom lip. They seemed to mesh well with the ideals of the company, and they were a hard worker. She had already called and checked all their references, and hadn’t detected an ounce of lying about her character. _I’ll have to add Miss Coalwell to the list then._

Again, the sound of a restlessly moving body reaches her ears and Annie closes her eyes. She takes a deep breath before opening them to glance in that direction. “Is there something the matter, Mr. Tweak?”

“O-oh!” The blond, nervous male cries out, as if he was surprised that Annie even remembered he was there. “N-no, I. No.”

“No?” Annie tries again. No one can fault her if she snaps, because she’s really trying to be very patient with him. Pip had begged her last weekend to take his slightly older brother under her wing and guide him through this process. **“It’ll be good for him,”** he had said. **“He needs to get away from our parents and their smothering!”** She was kind of regretting being so nice to all of her friends. She hadn’t thought she would have to literally hold Tweek’s hand to get him through the au pair application process.

“U-uh.” Tweek’s eyes glanced down at the papers he was currently shuffling through, biting his lower lip. “I don’t…”

“Don’t?” She verbally prods him after he falls silent for a good minute.

“I don’t think I’d be a good… uhm, ah pair?” He completely butchered the pronunciation. She supposes she should fix that, first off, then move onto his other worries.

“It’s au pair,” she says breezily, forcing a smile she doesn’t quite feel, if only to put him more at ease. “A lot of people are nervous at first, Mr. Tweak! It’s very natural, you know. I deal with it on a daily basis.”

“I…” His eyes dart up, connect with her own, and then flit away. One hand releases his paperwork and tugs at the front of his buttoned shirt. “I don’t think… I’d be very good. With kids. Or anyone. U-uh! B-because… I can barely take care of myself, you know!?”

Annie nods along as he blabbers, an expression of polite interest and sympathy on her face. “Are you really that bad with taking care of yourself?” She glances at the beginning of his paperwork-- all the pertinent data she needed to input into the system-- and spots his birthdate. “I mean, it says here you’re twenty-two. I suppose living with your parents may have inhibited some of your aging process over the years..?”

“I do my own laundry!” He bursts out with, like this is the most awe inspiring thing he can think of from his daily life. “M-my mom doesn’t do it for me anymore. I do it. Pip says… he says that’s r-really good?”

“I see,” Annie says. She feels like sighing. Honestly, she feels like going out after work and grabbing a drink. It’s been two hours of this man waffling back and forth on whether he’s really going to take the job or not. She’s going to have to use all of her influence just to get him an assignment if he decides to go through with it. “Do you think you’d like to speak with your parents on this matter? Before we proceed any further?”

The blond looked away, back down at his paperwork. He shuffled it again, looking at each page in turn, before sighing. “N-no,” he finally answered a moment later, right when Annie had given up hope of continuing the conversation. “I.” He stops, then shoves his arms out to quickly stuff the papers right in front of her on the desk. “Here! I… I’m done. I filled t-them all out.”

Annie feels a bit discomforted, processing these and knowing that he’s a bit of a mess. She looks down at the paperwork, and then back up at him. “I’ll process this over the rest of the week,” she tells him. Time for the same old spiel. “You probably won’t hear back from me until the end of next week, or the beginning of the one after that. It’s all very normal, and you don’t have to worry if you don’t hear from me for a bit. I’ll be sure to contact you if we have a match, or… well, I’ll be in contact with you.”

Tweek nodded along, his green eyes wide in his pale face. “O-okay,” he said and picked at his jeans, before jumping to his feet. It seemed like he was electrocuted, he got up so fast and swayed a bit, but he forced a smile to his lips. “T-thank you, Ms. Nelson!” With that being said, he practically fled her office without another word or glance.

God, she really needed that drink.

***

“How did it go?” was the first thing that greeted Tweek upon his return to the shop. The blond wrung his hands together fitfully, and ducked his head to stare at his feet. “Bad?” His adopted brother asked, a sympathetic frown on his face.

“I-it was o-okay?” Tweek had to remain positive! He always psyched himself out. Tweek glanced up at Pip and shrugged. “She said she would c-call next week sometime, m-maybe. If everything goes okay.”

Pip nodded his head and clenched a fist in front of him, a perfect model of optimistic thinking. “You’ll get it!” he said cheerfully. “You just have to remain positive!”

There wasn’t much more to say on the matter after that. Tweek shuffled into the backroom to grab his apron, and then came out to help man the coffee machines while Pip did the register. Their parents frequently left them to man the store on their own, so this wasn’t anything new. Actually, Tweek rather liked it whenever he was left to his own devices in the store. It was almost calming for him to be in his own element and to know what he was doing, to be totally confident that at least in _this_ he could do things right.

It wasn’t like Tweek hated this life, either. He liked working here part time at nights, after he finished doing his homework for his online classes and fiddling around his room at home. He enjoyed the life he was leading, but… he just felt like something was missing! Ever since he had brought it up to his brother a month ago, Pip hadn’t let it go and had begun suggesting different things Tweek could try to see if it would fill the void. It wasn’t like the void was large! It was… Tweek was missing something. There was something that needed to be in his life that wasn’t there yet.

“Where would you want them to send you?” Pip brought up thirty minutes before closing time. Tweek was out from behind the counter, mopping the floors and cleaning the tables, while Pip counted up their tips and divided them evenly.

This was something that had never crossed Tweek’s mind. Where would he want to be sent? “D-do you think they’re g-gonna send me somewhere bad!?” Tweek asked, aghast. He hadn’t even thought about all the awful places he could be sent! God, why hadn’t he thought of that!?

“No!” Pip said and laughed cheerfully. “I’m sure they won’t send you somewhere awful, Tweek. I just meant, if you got to choose, where would you want to go for your job?”

Tweek continued swiping the mop back and forth over the floor, his eyes gazing down at the streaks of water as they were maneuvered around, but not really seeing any of it. “Canada,” he finally answered, probably after enough time had passed that Pip had given up waiting for a response. There was more silence, before Pip finally seemed to open his mouth to speak again.

“Canada?”

“Yeah,” Tweek said and stopped mopping. He had been done for a minute or two now, and had just continued to do it for the comfort of having something to do. “I hear everyone is really nice there!”

“There are nice people everywhere,” Pip pointed out. “There are nice people here in Britain, you know.”

“I guess…” Tweek said, but his face screwed up a little in thought. “It’s just… I don’t know. C-Canada would be nice, dude!”

“What about the United States?” Pip asked, and Tweek could hear a note of something in his voice. Glancing over towards his brother, he saw that Pip actually looked excited by the prospect. “I’ve always wanted to visit! If you were there, why, I could come visit you!”

Tweek tilted his head a bit to the side as he thought about it. “Y-you just wanna use me for f-free lodging, man!”

“That too,” Pip agreed, and both of them laughed a little. Tweek brought the mop with him as he went to the backroom, his chores done. His thoughts swirled in his brain as he went about getting everything in order for the next shift in the morning, able to go on autopilot and get his tasks completed without too much thought.

“It’d be nice,” he finally said as they were locking up, their coats wrapped snuggly around them as they stood outside. The glow of the lamplight cast half their faces in light and half in shadow, as Pip finished locking the front door. When his brother gave him a blank look, having probably forgotten the previous conversation, Tweek prompted with, “Going to the United States, I mean. I-I was born there, after all, before mum wanted to move back here to be with her family, and dad agreed.”

“Oh!” Pip said, catching on. “It would be nice, huh? To finally see your birth place?”

“Mmm,” Tweek agreed, nodding his head and burrowing it in the scarf wrapped around his neck. The winter chill in the air nipped harshly at their faces, but Tweek was too caught up in his own thoughts to notice now. “I always wondered what it would be like. W-we get a lot of tourists here in London, but… I-I don’t know, dude, I think it’d be different to _be_ there, you know?”

“I guess new countries can feel like that,” Pip agreed. Pip always agreed. Tweek couldn’t remember the last time Pip had ever argued with him over something. It just didn’t seem like something that was in Pip’s nature. “Do you think you’re gonna tell mum and dad soon?”

“I--” Tweek hadn’t thought of that. “I think I’m g-gonna wait. Until I know! For sure.” He paused again and his fingers fiddled with loose strings in his coat’s pockets. “I don’t want to tell them and then n-not be accepted.” For the most part his stuttering was to a minimum, but sometimes he’d become self aware and hate the sound of it wobbling in his voice. Right now he had no reason to be nervous, but it was still thrumming lowly in his veins, an anxious energy that never fully abated. Even with all the medications he had to take, and the fact that he had cut down on his coffee by half over the years, it was still there, restlessly waiting in the background of his head for a spare moment to break free.

“Good idea,” Pip murmured, and then they were home, standing on the front stoop. Pip rummaged to bring out the keys again to unlock the front door, and they both slipped inside. There wasn’t a sound from within the house, but that wasn’t exactly out of place. Their mum usually went to sleep around 10, which was the time that they were closing up shop. Their dad might be upstairs reading a book, or in the den watching the TV with the volume set as low as he could manage to hear. There was no glow coming from the family room, however, so Tweek assumed he was upstairs too.

Both boys quickly discarded their coats on the hooks by the door, and slipped out of their shoes for good measure. In the dull light from the bulb above the stove, Tweek could see the entire place had been cleaned recently. Probably one of his mother’s manic episodes where she needed everything in order and put in their proper place. She’d been having those a lot less often once she had agreed to see a professional, but they still came upon her suddenly from time to time. It was like she was a human hurricane, except instead of causing chaos, she supplied order and cleaning supplies.

“Do you think they left us something to eat?” Pip asked, but he was already on his way into the kitchen, intent on answering his own question. Tweek’s stomach rumbled, and he padded along behind his brother, curious as well. The fridge was peered into quickly before Pip sighed and closed it. “Nothing,” he whispered. “We could make something…?”

“Mum hates it when we cook at night,” Tweek pointed out. Pip sighed again, heavily and with much weariness, before nodding. He turned towards the cupboards and began to shuffle things around. “What are you looking for?”

“Poptarts,” Pip said as he came back out with the box clutched in his hand. “It’s better than nothing!” he shot when Tweek gave him a look.

“That’s not gonna fill us up, dude,” Tweek muttered, but took two packages for himself as well. There was no use fighting it. Tweek knew there wouldn’t be anything better in the fridge, at least not something he could quickly put together without much mess or work. Their mum didn’t do the grocery shopping until tomorrow, so they were pretty low on options and supplies. “Thanks,” he told Pip. Without another word, Tweek headed to the stairs to go up to bed. He’d eat these poptarts while watching something on his laptop, maybe. It was almost the time when he took his nightly doses and dozed off, so there really wasn’t much else to do.

“Oh no,” he muttered once he reached his room and glanced at his desk. He had forgotten about that homework that was due tomorrow in math! His spare hand reached up to grasp his blond locks loosely, tugging at the ends and biting his lower lip. It had completely slipped his mind that he needed to bring it with him so he could do it at work! Dammit. Now he definitely wasn’t going to be able to go to sleep on time. He shoved one poptart into his mouth while he sat down in his chair, sighing and flipping on the lamp that was there.

He wasn’t gonna be able to enjoy the next episode of Game of Thrones tonight…

***

For the rest of that week-- and most of the next-- the au pair program flew from Tweek’s mind. His life was a flurry of homework, working at the coffee shop in the evenings, and hanging out with his and Pip’s friends on the weekend. Tweek didn’t really have time to think-- or worry, even-- about what might happen. That was probably a good thing, otherwise it would have plagued Tweek’s thoughts every day. Tweek was a worrier-- always had been-- and no amount of therapy and medication was going to change that.

He only remembered that he had even applied to the program when Annie Nelson’s name came up on caller ID on his cell. He had a brief moment to ponder why she was calling _him_ \-- she was only Pip’s friend, one of the few that he and his brother didn’t share-- before it all clicked into place. “Hello?” he asked hesitantly as he answered on the fourth ring.

“Hello, Mr. Tweak!” she greeted in a cheerful voice. He could even hear the smile she was forcing across her lips! “How have you been since we last spoke?”

“Oh,” Tweek said and fumbled with his phone, trying to balance it between his shoulder and ear, while juggling the cups he had been cleaning at work with the other. He finally abandoned that a moment later when he realized he just couldn’t multitask right now. “Fine!” he told her quickly, realizing he had paused for too long. “I’ve b-been okay. You?”

“I’ve been well,” Annie responded. “Thank you for asking! Alright, so your paperwork came back today, Mr. Tweak. It’s my pleasure to tell you that you’ve been accepted into the program!”

A moment passed where Tweek had no idea how to respond. His stomach was clenched up with anxiety still, and hearing the news didn’t seem to do anything to release it. “I… I was accepted?” He still couldn’t wrap his mind around it! He had been sure that, somehow, something would go wrong and he would still be stuck here in Britain for the rest of his life. He’d end up doing what his parents wanted-- taking over the coffee shop and running it when they retired-- and would never get anywhere in life, never find out what _he_ liked, what _he_ wanted to do for himself.

“Yes,” Annie said, and for the first time her voice turned soft, almost like she knew what was going on. “I know it’s a bit of a shock-- most people think they won’t be accepted, but they’ve found a good match for you, and think you’d do wonderfully! The next time you have a chance, you should come in and we can talk about it more.”

“W-when can I come in?” He would make time to go as soon as possible. He was willing to drop everything and run there.

“Well,” Annie said and paused. Tweek could hear the clacking of her nails against the keyboard as she looked at her calendar. “How does tomorrow at ten in the morning sound?”

“T-that works!” Tweek agreed. “I’ll be there.”

“Okay, Tweek!” Annie responded, using his first name for the first time since he had began this process. “I’ll see you tomorrow! Have a good night.”

“Thanks! You t-too!” he told her, but she had already hung up. Tweek allowed his hand to fall and he stared blankly at his cell phone, the news settling over him and making itself at home. He would have to talk to his parents as soon as possible. Today was Thursday, so that meant that he only had to work two hours, instead of the usual six. He’d be off in another hour once his replacement arrived to take over, and then he’d go home to have dinner with the whole family. That… he would have to tell everyone then. There was no putting it off or ignoring it now.

The rest of his shift practically flew past. Now that he was dreading the confrontation with his parents, he had figured the wait would be over in the blink of an eye. Damien wandered in around five minutes before he was scheduled, looking grumpy and tousled, like he had just rolled out of bed. He was Pip’s best friend, and had agreed to work at the shop part time. Damien was the only outside worker their parents had hired, otherwise only family members were employed.

“S-see you,” Tweek told him as he shuffled towards the door, backpack in hand. Damien barely acknowledged him, raising a hand to wave in both greeting and farewell. Tweek hurried outside into the brisk afternoon air, and began the short walk home. His insides were knotting up with nerves, but he managed to swallow some of it and ignore it for the rest of the walk. Tweek always enjoyed his walks! He loved feeling the air against his cheeks as he headed home, and humming to himself along the way. He had forgotten his iPod, otherwise he probably would have used that to distract himself a little.

“I’m home!” Tweek called as he entered the house, only fumbling with his keys once this time. His hands were shaking pretty badly, but at least he didn’t drop them this time! He usually dropped them and had to wildly try to catch them on their descent. A greeting came from within the kitchen-- muted, but clearly his mum-- and there was some shuffling from the dining room. Pip was probably setting up the plates and silverware for dinner.

“How was your day?” his mother asked as Tweek wandered over towards the dining room, intent on telling Pip the news before he had to confront their parents. Tweek paused in the doorway to the kitchen, fidgeting and picking at the bottom of his coat. “Your math class went okay? Work wasn’t too hard?”

It was really too bad that the years had worn Mrs. Francine Tweak out like they did. She wasn’t old, by any means, but life had been a little hard on her and it showed in her face. There were premature wrinkles around her eyes and mouth, and her hair was a duller blond then from her youth. Tweek still remembered the one picture he had seen of his mother when she was his age. She had been standing next to Richard Tweak and beaming, their first date to their Senior Prom. Her hair had been the same shade as Tweek’s at that age, but it had become darker with the years.

“Work was fine,” Tweek answered, “and my class wasn’t t-too stressful today. W-we had a quiz! But I did okay.”

“Oh that’s good, honey,” his mother said and barely spared him a glance as she flitted from pot to pot, checking on everything. “Go help Phillip in the dining room, won’t you?”

Tweek didn’t need to be told twice. He hurried away in search of his brother without another word, finding him in the dining room just finishing setting out the silverware. “Tweek!” Pip greeted with a smile. “How was that quiz?”

“O-okay,” he said, but he really had no time to spare towards his math grades right now. He was almost into full on freak out mode. “Dude, A-Annie called today! I got i-in, but I h-have no idea how to tell m-mum and dad!!” Tweek hissed this all in one breath, practically vibrating from all the nervous energy bouncing around inside of him. Pip blinked and then a smile bloomed on his face.

“You did? You got accepted!? That’s great!” He said it a bit too loud for Tweek’s tastes, so the frazzled boy took it upon himself to hush his brother. Pip looked properly contrite. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I’m sure it’ll go okay, Tweek. You just have to stay calm.”

“M-me? Stay calm? You do know w-w-who you’re talking to here, r-right!?”

“Yes,” Pip said and then took in a deep breath, before blowing it out gustily. It was clear he was trying to show Tweek what to do. Tweek followed suit, closing his eyes for a moment and trying to find the calm within himself. It wasn’t really working.. “It’s like a bandaid,” Pip offered. “Just get it over with, then once it’s out, you don’t have to worry anymore! The bad part is already over!”

Tweek guessed Pip had a point. All those interviews and papers he’d been filling out for the past few weeks, those were pretty hard and now _this_ should be easier. It was just telling his parents what he planned on doing, and then doing it. They couldn’t really lock him up and keep him from doing something he had set his mind to. Tweek was paranoid, and sometimes thought they could easily keep him from doing things, but… that wasn’t really true. His mom could be a little whacked out, but his dad was a sensible person. Even if he had a horrible sense of humor.

Ugh. Dad humor. Tweek was twenty-two and he didn’t think he’d ever understand his dad’s form of “dad humor.”

“Well hello there, sons,” came a voice from the entrance of the dining room. Speak of the devil..

“Hi, dad,” both blonds chimed in unison. Pip went to give his dad a hug, but Tweek just sat down at his place and nervously fidgeted in his chair. Their mother soon came in carrying the main course, and quietly asked Pip to help her get the others. Tweek was no longer asked, mostly because his mother still remembered that time he had broken Grandma’s old china dishes. Even though Tweek was much better than he was some years ago, his parents still didn’t treat him-- nor view him-- as an adult. This was one of the many reasons he had decided to apply for the au pair program. He had to prove to them he was an adult and could handle himself like one!

“How was your day?” Tweek’s mother asked as soon as everyone was settled at the table and dishing out the food. Pip and Tweek didn’t bother to answer, because they knew the question was directed at their father.

“It was very nice, thank you,” Tweek’s dad responded. He did part time work as an accountant when he wasn’t swamped with the coffee shop. “Numbers were good today! I thought about going on an all-almond diet today… but that’s just nuts!”

“Oh that’s wonderful,” came the response from his wife. There was a long silence. It seemed she hadn’t caught onto the joke at all. Pip was looking at Tweek expectantly, and the frazzled blond tried to ignore his brother. He wasn’t ready! He didn’t know what to say or how to bring it up!

“What about you, Tweek?” Pip asked. What a sly dog! Tweek wasn’t ready for this! He felt like he needed to excuse himself and get more medicine, because a panic attack was definitely building. He could feel the flip-flops in his stomach, and it was all rather unpleasant.

“U-uhm,” Tweek stumbled, his tongue refusing to cooperate, his lips feeling numb. All eyes were on him now, his mother furrowing her brows, but his father looking concerned and interested. “It… it went good! I, uhm. I got a call today!”

“Oh?” Richard Tweak asked, raising both brows. He didn’t say anything else. It was clear everyone was waiting for Tweek to continue.

“It was from…” Tweek glanced away from his family and moved the peas about on his plate, trying hard not to look at his parents as he blurted out the next part. “It was from the au pair program!”

“Gesundheit,” his father said as if on autopilot, joking without realizing what he was saying. Tweek had kind of slurred his words together. Other than that though...

Silence. Nobody moved or said a word. Tweek glanced up after a full minute of this, looking first at his mother and then at his dad. Both of them were frozen and staring at him with partially agape mouths. His mother looked horrified, while his father just looked stunned.

“The au pair program?” His mother was the first to collect herself enough to speak. Tweek nodded. “Why would they call you, honey? You certainly wouldn’t have applie--”

“I did,” he mumbled. “I, uhm. I did… apply.” More silence followed, and Tweek was starting to really hate this! Somebody needed to say something! Pip was just staring at the parental units as well, expectant, waiting. Tweek tore his eyes away from his brother to look at his mother and father again. His dad looked very calm and collected, but his mother’s face was flushed a light pink. Uh oh.

“You applied to the au pair program?” she asked, voice quiet as she forced the words from between her stiff lips. She set her fork down and focused her entire attention on her son.

“Y-yes,” Tweek whispered softly.

“Why would you do that?” she asked. “That was such a horrible idea, Richard.” God, Tweek hated it when she used his actual given name. It was so… He glanced at his father to see he was just calmly moving his food about on his own plate, letting Tweek’s mother do all the talking. This was how it usually was anyway. “Why would you apply to something like that? You’re a child! And without talking to us first! You can’t handle that kind of--”

“Yes I can!” Tweek suddenly burst out with. He clenched his fists but managed to keep himself from throwing some kind of tantrum. He just felt like yelling and hitting his fists against his thighs and begging his parents to admit _he was an adult_! He was twenty-two years old and, believe it or not, he was able to take care of himself! He worked part time at the shop, and he went to one in person class on his own, and he had two more online classes. His homework was always done on time, and he took medicine now so he very rarely had panic attacks or nervous breakdowns! He was ready, he was ready to go out and see the world and _do something_! He still had no idea what he wanted to do as a career, but it certainly wasn’t what his parents wanted: taking over the store when his father retired and keeping the business going.

“Richard Tweak, Jr., don’t you dare take that kind of tone with me,” his mother said and now she was flushed red, full out angry at her son. “You could not possibly handle taking care of a child, you can barely take care of yourself! You are going to have to call that program and tell them you’re turning it down. You certainly can’t leave this house, let alone quite possibly the country! How would you ever be able to fend for yourself?”

“I can,” Tweek said, and it took a lot of effort not to stutter out his words, “and I will. I’m going to accept. This is something I want to do! Why can’t you just be happy for me!?”

Tweek got to his feet before his mother could say anything else. “I-I’m going to start p-packing,” he said, and he felt a little wiggle of shame in his gut. He had been doing so well too! Of course his old tics would come back and his words would falter a little. His family said nothing, so Tweek walked out of the dining room and upstairs to his own bedroom.

As soon as he was out of earshot, sounds began to come with earnest from the dining room. He put them from his mind. There was really nothing more that could be said right now. His mother was protective and overbearing. She had always been the type of mother to hover, to refuse to let Tweek to do certain things because he was “special” and “not like the other children.” Pip was usually left to his own devices, and their mother rarely told him he couldn’t do things, couldn’t be a normal teenager and then young adult over the years. It was only Tweek who was told “no, honey, I really don’t think you should go to that dance” or “no, Tweek, that job wouldn’t be good for you.”

When his bedroom door was shut behind him, he slumped back against it, sighing. What should one begin to pack to leave his old life? Tweek had no idea. He supposed he should start with his clothes, and then figure out what the essentials were. Ugh, tonight was going to be a long night!

***

The next day finds him back in Annie’s office, fidgeting uncontrollably as he waits for her to show up. The receptionist had said she needed to step out, but that she was expecting him and would be back at any moment. Tweek shuffled on the seat, crossing and then uncrossing his legs, looking at all the pictures hung on the walls, even at one point attempting to hum a little tune to himself. All of this fails to appease his nerves, and so he goes quiet and just sits there, staring into space.

“Oh, Mr. Tweak,” comes Annie’s voice from the doorway, where she had just pulled open the door and stepped inside. Even after knowing him for years, Annie refuses to get too comfortable around him. It had been like this in high school too. She was more Pip’s friend than his. The only friend Tweek had for himself-- one that his brother hadn’t made and then dragged kicking and screaming to be Tweek’s as well-- was Jimmy Valmer. “I’m glad you could make it!”

Annie took a seat behind her desk and got out _more_ paperwork. Tweek suppressed the groan he could feel building in his throat. “Y-yeah,” Tweek responded, because it would be rude not to, right? “I, uhm, wouldn’t miss it!”

She flashed a small, polite smile but otherwise didn’t comment further. Once she had gotten the papers into the order she deemed necessary, she passed them across to him. “This is all just information explaining what happens now. You’re being sent to Denver, Colorado in the United States. Your charge is a six-year-old girl named Molly Tucker. Her father manages the Wanted Ads section for the paper there. You’ll be getting a monthly salary, and all your food and accommodations will be taken care of by the family directly. They have a spare bedroom they’re going to set you up in, and you’ll be taking care of Molly full time except on the days when Mr. Tucker is off or available to handle her so you can have some time for your own things.”

So far everything sounds perfect to Tweek. Sure, taking care of a kid he’s never met before will probably be a hard job to handle, but he’s ready for it. He’s ready to feel like a fully capable adult who can have his own life and not depend on his family constantly. “O-okay,” Tweek said and picked up the papers carefully, looking them over. Everything seems to be in order. He’s going to get a meager allowance every month for his own salary, but he wasn’t expecting anything crazy to begin with. It’s so small because most of his food and accommodations are being given to him free of charge by the family, so that meant that he only got a tiny stipend for everything else.

“You’ll be leaving in two weeks,” she said, and that was when Tweek’s heart hammered hard in his chest. Two weeks! So soon to be expected to pack up his entire life and move to a new country, but… well, Tweek had figured he wouldn’t get much time. They probably need him as soon as possible. “Your airfare is already taken care of, so you won’t have to worry about that. Next week you’ll be getting all the information about your flight and when to be at the airport. Today we just wanted to touch base and have you sign some of the paperwork. Make it all official!” Annie brought out a pen from her desk with a flourish, beaming. “Here are the things I need you to sign, and then we’re all squared away!”

Tweek did just that for the next minutes, signing each paper Annie pushed across the desk to him. It was ten minutes later when, with his hand cramping up and his heart beating a fast rhythm in his chest, that Tweek realized he’d taken the first step into a truly adult life. No parents looking over his shoulder, no one to ask for approval, and certainly no one to harp on him about every tiny little thing he may or may not be doing right.

Annie proudly stated, “Congratulations on your new job as an au pair!”


	2. Next Step

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey,” came a voice from the doorway, a fist slamming into it and jolting both boys out of their own little world. Damien stood in the doorway, brows creased and frown dark on his face. “I don’t have all night for you two saps to yammer to each other. Let’s fucking go already.”
> 
> “Sorry, Damien!” Pip said and grinned up into his best friend’s face, reaching out to pat his shoulder lightly. “I know you don’t deal well with affection!”
> 
> “Shuddup,” Damien responded, but he didn’t look mad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ta-da hands] Here's the next chapter! Thank you for all the kudos and bookmarks. It's really appreciated! Don't worry, everyone! You meet Craig and his lovely daughter Molly next chapter. That's where the story really takes off! So I hope you continue to enjoy.

“D-d-dude!”

Tweek didn’t even bother to look up from his fifteenth time repacking one of his bags. He had too much to do to even pause for a moment! There were so many things to sort, and pack, and figure out before his plane left. He only had one more week before the date he’d be leaving for the States.“Yeah?” Tweek mumbled around the pen stuck in his mouth. He had been in the middle of writing a list of things he needed to buy tomorrow when he’d suddenly been hit with inspiration to repack another bag.

“W-what about my b-b-big gig, Tweek?” Jimmy asked from where he was seated on Tweek’s bed, watching the messy process of his best friend pack up his entire life. “Y-you said you’d b-be there!”

Tweek paused for a moment and the pen fell slowly out of his mouth. “Oh shit, dude!” He whirled around to stare at Jimmy in dawning horror. Jimmy had finally gotten that lucky break in the comedy circuit he’d been working so hard for, and Tweek had promised to be there front and center! “I think that’s like the night before my flight in the morning!”

Jimmy stared back at him without saying anything, eyebrows cocked and mouth stretched into a small frown. When Tweek didn’t move to reply either, he finally piped in with, “Y-yeah?”

“I guess,” Tweek paused and hummed to himself, thinking, “I guess I could make that! I mean, I’d have to leave right after, but.” He’d barely get any sleep before his flight. He’d have to go to the gig, congratulate Jimmy after, and then dash home to get maybe an hour or two of sleep before when he needed to head to the airport. His mum had at first refused to give him a ride to the airport, but after much weedling (from both Pip and Tweek) she had caved. “Yeah, I could make that, dude!”

A grin split across Jimmy’s face and his eyes already looked lighter than before. “C-c-cool, Tweek! Thanks, m-man, I don’t think I c-c-could have done it without you there.”

Tweek grinned back at him and then turned towards his packing once more. The blond was actually the reason Jimmy had pursued his stand up comedy routine at all. Jimmy had been ready to get some stupid, boring job right out of high school, but then Tweek had pointed out, “Why do something if you don’t love it?” Even though Jimmy had taken that boring job, he had decided to work part time at night preparing and perfecting his routines, going to open mic nights, fishing around for better gigs. Tweek had been to each show and had helped handing out fliers, getting people to take notice of his best friend’s jokes.

“No problem, dude!” Tweek said with his back still turned, rolling a shirt up to slide easily into a corner of his bag. “I wouldn’t wanna miss it! This is a honest to God gig! You’re actually getting p-paid, man, and that’s awesome!”

“It’s n-n-nerve wracking is what i-it is!” Jimmy retorted, but he didn’t have any fire behind it. Tweek glanced around to see that Jimmy was at his desk now, having whipped out his own notebook and started scribbling inside it.

“You working some more on your skit?” Tweek asked without really needing an answer. He already knew what it would be. He dutifully folded up the rest of his clothes and tucked them away in his bag, before zipping it and setting it back on the floor. That was it! He wasn’t going to repack that bag anymore! Even if he could better organize it by-- no, no, no! The organization was fine and it didn’t need to be redone.

“Yeah,” Jimmy responded after a brief moment of silence. He was clearly focusing on his work. “I just f-f-feel like there can be a lot more i-improvements m-m-made to it!”

“Do you want me to look it over?”

“No,” Jimmy answered, just like Tweek knew he would. “It’ll be f-fine, and you have more things to pack.”

“Do you think I’m missing something!?” Tweek asked, glancing at the bags he’d already finished packing. He wrung his hands together nervously, fighting the temptation to tug on his blond locks. Jimmy laughed from his desk, and it tore Tweek’s attention away from his inner anxiety.

“I’m s-s-sure you’ve packed your entire l-life by now, Tweek,” Jimmy responded and he tore his eyes away from his own work to grin at his best friend. “You’ll probably re-organize everything a-a-at least twenty more times before you leave.” He was right. Tweek knew he was right. Tweek knew he was right because they had been best friends since practically diapers, and Jimmy knew him just as well as Pip did.

“Yeah,” Tweek sighed. “I will.”

“Let’s g-go grab some b-b-burgers from that diner down the street!” Jimmy said loudly and smacked his notebook closed with a strange finality. Tweek jumped in surprise at the sudden exclamation though, and turned to blink owlishly at his best friend. “G-grab your brother! I’ll pay. My t-t-treat.”

“Ah!” Tweek grinned. “Alright! Let’s go! I’m starving. Pip!!” Tweek hollered as he grabbed his jacket and walked out of his bedroom. “We’re going to the diner! Wanna go with?”

***

Tweek wasn’t really used to his days _flying by_. His brother always talked about the general rush his weeks blurred into, but for Tweek, things just kind of idly passed him by. Pip could forget whole days because of how hectic his schedule was, but Tweek had more than enough times for the smaller things.

This week, however, the last one for him in Britain was… well, it was Hell on earth. It was finally the day before his flight would take him out of the country, and Tweek felt like everything was falling apart. His bags had been packed and re-packed so many times, his fingers felt numb just from all the folding and tucking and general things he’d been doing to prepare. His brain was slush as he sat-- more like sprawled, really-- on his bed and stared at the ceiling.

The blond groaned when he remembered that Jimmy’s gig was tonight. He’d promised he would go! Tweek practically felt dead on his feet since he had rolled out of bed this morning, but… he wasn’t one to break his word. He had said he would go, and God dammit, he was gonna be there! Come rain or shine, he was going to drag himself to that freaking show.

“Hey,” came a voice at his door. He rolled over just enough to peer at Pip standing in his doorway, cheerful smile in place. “I convinced Damien to go with me to Jimmy’s show! Want a ride?”

“Sure,” Tweek mumbled as he pushed himself into a seated position. It would cut his travel time by half if he got a ride instead of walking to the place. Tweek liked walking though! It always cleared his head and helped him with any thoughts that were crowding his mind. Tonight, though, he was sure he didn’t have time for something like that. He had to get there, watch the gig, and then hurry home to get to bed. Tomorrow was going to be crazy enough without losing out on a couple more hours of sleep to boot. “Let me just grab my jacket.”

“Alrighty!” Pip replied cheerfully. He didn’t make a move to leave the room while Tweek rummaged through his packed bags, looking for the jacket he had previously thrown there earlier. Once Tweek’s fingers were closed around it and lifting it up, situating it to slide on, Tweek blinked owlishly at his brother.

“Is something the matter, Pip?” he asked when Pip made no move either to leave or to speak. It was clear by the expression on his face that he had something he wanted to say.

“I…” Pip trailed off and blinked a few times, like he was holding back tears. Oh Gods, oh no, please don’t cry! Tweek couldn’t handle tears! He cried enough on his own! He didn’t need someone else pushing him into it because of their display of emotion. “I won’t be able to say goodbye tomorrow, so I guess I gotta do it tonight.”

“Y-yeah,” Tweek responded. “You have a hard enough time waking up in the mornings as it is. I don’t think you’re gonna be up when I l-leave…” Tweek trailed off and his fingers clutched the end of his jacket, twisting it this way and that. He bit his lower lip and worried it between his teeth.

“Just.” Pip looked away for a moment and then back, grinning. “I know it’s gonna be awhile before I see you again! And, ever since I came here when I was really little, we’ve never been apart for too long before. I guess it’ll be really huge for both of us, not having one another, but… I really hope everything works out great for you, Tweek! I know you’re kind of lost right now, not sure what you wanna do, but… I just hope that you have fun and figure some things out! You know?”

“Mmmm,” Tweek responded with a nod. He understood. Tweek himself had been feeling like he was lost in limbo, so it was no surprise that-- even without Tweek outright saying as much-- Pip had noticed. They were best friends as well as brothers. Of course Pip had noticed. “I’m… I’m nervous, but excited!” He tilted his head a bit to the side and fidgeted. “If that makes sense?”

“It does!” Pip said with a small smile. “I’d be the same if I were in your shoes.”

“Hey,” came a voice from the doorway, a fist slamming into it and jolting both boys out of their own little world. Damien stood in the doorway, brows creased and frown dark on his face. “I don’t have all night for you two saps to yammer to each other. Let’s fucking go already.”

“Sorry, Damien!” Pip said and grinned up into his best friend’s face, reaching out to pat his shoulder lightly. “I know you don’t deal well with affection!”

“Shuddup,” Damien responded, but he didn’t look mad. He shuffled a bit on his feet, then shoved his hands into his own jacket’s pockets. “Let’s go, losers,” he said and then turned to walk back down the hall towards the stairs. Pip turned to shrug his shoulders at Tweek and then followed along after, Tweek taking up the rear.

The drive to the event was quiet. Damien wasn’t a talker to begin with, and it seemed Pip had said all he had wanted for now. Damien had thrown himself into his car and turned on the music, loud, showing that he _definitely_ didn’t want anymore displays of emotion tonight. Tweek got into the back seat and shut the door after him, quiet on the entire drive over. Pip was bouncing around excitedly and singing along to the songs-- of course Damien hadn’t put on his own music, but instead had played one of Pip’s mix CDs. Sometimes Tweek wasn’t sure how their friendship functioned. They were so different, yet got along so well. The friendship between Damien and Pip had always confounded him.

“Do we have to wait in line?” Damien asked as soon as they had parked outside the location. He scowled when Pip told him that they would have to. “I fucking hate lines,” he grumbled, but he followed along behind them regardless. The line wasn’t all that bad, so Tweek wasn’t sure why Damien was so disgruntled over it. Then again, Damien was usually pissed off about one thing or another at any given time.

“Was Jimmy nervous earlier when you were talking to him?” Pip asked. “I know this isn’t his first gig, but it’s his first officially paid one! I’m sure he’ll break a leg, but… I figure it’s a different feeling before a real show, right?”

Tweek nodded. “He said he was a bit antsy, b-but that it should be fine.” Tweek shrugged. “M-most things like that r-roll right off his shoulders, you know? He’ll k-knock it outta the park.”

Which was exactly how it ended up going down. As soon as they were seated inside and the lights went dim, Jimmy came out and did his full routine without any problems. There weren’t even any hecklers-- thank goodness, because Tweek always got super nervous when there were-- and Jimmy got a loud round of applause at the end. Tweek was just beginning to nod off once it wrapped up, and he was thankful that he had a ride home via Damien. First, he would have to wait for Jimmy to come out so he could congratulate him, because he definitely wasn’t going to just run off without saying something first. This was going to be the last time he saw his best friend for, God, probably for ages!

“H-h-hey man,” Jimmy said as soon as he came out to the parking lot, where Tweek, Damien and Pip were hanging around. Damien was grumbling under his breath about having to wait, but there was no real fire behind it. Pip had already admonished him earlier about complaining too much. Tweek grinned and gave Jimmy a quick hug. “D-did you like it?” Jimmy asked. “I-i-it seemed to g-g-go over well!”

“Yeah, dude!” Tweek responded. “It was great! You really b-blew everyone away!”

“The place s-s-said they want to h-have me again!” Jimmy told them with a grin. “T-this might b-be my l-l-lucky break!”

“Awesome job, Jimmy!” Pip told him and reached out to clap him on the shoulder. Everyone fell silent for several moments. Jimmy was peering at Tweek with a small frown, and Tweek kicked his shoe at a rock, sending it flying. He wasn’t sure how to say goodbye to a best friend he’d had around since practically diapers. Tweek was shit at saying goodbyes. They were so awkward.

“I g-guess this is i-i-it for awhile!” Jimmy told him. “D-don’t fall in l-love with the S-s-states and never c-come back, a-asshole!”

Tweek laughed. “Don’t worry!” he told him. “I don’t think that’s going to happen!”

“B-better not,” Jimmy said with a smile, and then gave Tweek a hug. “See you w-w-when I see you n-next, dude. S-send me an e-mail when you get t-t-there safe.”

“I will,” Tweek told him and clapped him one last time on the shoulder. “Keep b-breaking your leg at your shows!”

Jimmy raised a hand in farewell, and then shuffled off, leaving Tweek watching him go. “You ready?” Damien called as he started to head towards his car.

“Y-yeah,” Tweek said, and he was.

***

“Don’t forget--”

“I didn’t!” Tweek said for the fiftieth time. His mother stared hard at him, a frown marring her features and a crease between her brows. Tweek took a deep breath and let it out shakily, clenching his fists around the strap of his bag.

“I’m just worried, Richard,” his mother told him as patiently as she was able. Tweek could hear her practically gritting her teeth. “I… I may not support your decision to do this, but I’m still your mother and I’m still _worried_ about you.” She looked away for a moment and then back at him. “This is a big step, and… I just want to make sure you’re prepared.”

“I… I know,” he told her. “Thanks, mom. I… I went over my bags at least twenty times, and I-I’m sure I didn’t forget anything.”

His mother nodded. “If you’re sure…?”

“Yeah,” he responded. His mother hesitated for another moment before heaving a sigh and nodding. They were standing in the front hall right beside the door, and they had been going over everything to make sure Tweek was ready. He’d barely gotten any sleep last night like he’d figured, because he’d gotten home a little late from Jimmy’s gig. He was glad he’d been able to see it, but… he felt like he was dragging himself on the last dregs of his energy.

But that was fine, because once he was on the plane he’d be able to try to sleep. They’d gotten him some medicine for his anxiety, and it would probably knock him right out. It was just what he needed. It was going to take a really long time to fly to the States, and he could use that time to recharge.

“Right,” his mother said and then turned her back on him so she could open the front door. “Let’s go, or you’ll be late. You said goodbye to your brother and father last night?”

“Mmmm,” Tweek murmured. Pip and he had exchanged one last hug last night before Tweek had went off to take a nap, and Pip had almost cried when he’d stepped away. Tweek and his dad had pretty much wished each other luck and left it at that. Tweek had been close to his parents a long time ago, but… the more he grew up and the more they sunk their fingers into him to keep him around, the less Tweek enjoyed the experience. He was ready to be on his own and do his own thing, even if it scared the shit out of him.

The drive to the airport was quiet. Unfortunately it was an awkward kind of quiet, with his mother trying to show displeasure the entire way. It was too late for Tweek to step out now though. His mother had attempted to persuade him two days ago that he could still drop out, but he hadn’t been listening. He was ready to do this. The girl he’d be charged with sounded lovely from the information he’d been given by Annie, and he was sure he could handle this. Well… he hoped he was sure.

“Here we are,” his mother said as she pulled up to the passenger drop-off. She turned to peer at her son and reached a hand out, smoothing it over his hair. Tweek attempted not to flinch away. He hated when she tried to mess with his hair. It was a wreck no matter what you did with it! She should just come to accept that like he had. “Make sure to let me know when you land safely. I… I don’t agree with your decision, Tweek, but… I love you, and I only want what’s best for you. If this is something you feel you have to do…” She trailed off and studied him, so Tweek nodded firmly. “Then I wish you the best of luck. You know you can always call or e-mail if you need anything, okay?”

“Okay,” Tweek said, and then allowed his mother to pull him into an awkward hug over the console of the car. She let him go a moment later, and Tweek clambered out. He had to run and grab one of those trolleys-- fighting with the coins out of his pocket to pay for it-- to bring it back so he could load his baggage on it. His mother got out of the car to help him load it, before giving him one last hug and getting back into the car. He waved as she drove away, watching as the car disappeared from sight, and stood for a moment longer gathering himself.

This was the first time he truly felt alone. There was no one around to help him now. It was something he had to do all on his own. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he turned towards the entrance of the airport and pushed the trolley along ahead of him.

***

The airport was busier than he had expected. He supposed he should have actually realized it would be-- there were so many international flights on a Saturday, after all-- but it still freaked him out a bit. He wasn’t supposed to take his anti-anxiety medicine until right when he boarded the flight, so he had to deal with the thrum of nerves for a good two hours.

It was six in the morning by the time his flight was ready to be boarded, and Tweek had caved to buy himself a cup of coffee. The Harbucks near his gate wasn’t the best-- he was spoiled because of his family’s shop-- but it worked in a pinch, which was what this situation was. The coffee helped his nerves a little as he sipped at it and waited in line for boarding, shaking just a little from fear because of the upcoming flight.

He hated planes, and hated feeling claustrophobic on top of it. He’d be stuck in this flight for almost eight hours, and then would have a layover before flying the rest of the way to Denver. It’d be a little exciting to be in Canada-- his layover was in Toronto-- but he wasn’t really going to be able to go sightseeing or anything. He’d just be able to peer out at Canada from the windows of the airport, and maybe look around at some brochures for tourists.

“Ticket, please?” the attendant asked, smiling politely at him and holding her hand out. Tweek shuffled through his carry on, having completely forgotten to get it out and ready, and then handed it over to her. It nearly dropped out of his hand before she could grab it, but thankfully her reflexes were faster than his own. “One moment,” she told him as she scanned it, ripped off the portion she needed, before handing it back to him. “Please enjoy your flight, Mr. Tweak!”

“T-thank you,” Tweek told her as he took the stub back and shuffled his way into the boarding tube. Thankfully it wasn’t too stressful to find his seat and put away his carryonI feel like this doesn’t look right, before collapsing into his seat. He heaved a huge sigh and closed his eyes, his head resting backwards as he attempted to relax. “Oh,” he muttered to himself as he shoved his hand into his pocket to get his medicine out. “B-better take this,” he whispered to himself as he threw the pill into his mouth and then gulped it down with coffee. A moment passed before he winced; probably shouldn’t have taken it with coffee, but oh well. There was nothing else for it, and he wasn’t going to wait until they started passing out drinks.

The rest of that flight was a blur, mostly because Tweek passed out sometime after take off. He wasn’t awoken until meals were being passed out and he quickly paid for one, his stomach grumbling. It was better than nothing-- even if it did taste a little funny-- and he soon settled back down for another nap right after. The next thing he knew he was being jostled awake by turbulence as they hovered over Toronto, and his hands gripped the armrests.

“Almost there,” said a polite older woman next to him. He nodded quickly at her, but didn’t even attempt to pry his lips open to respond aloud. He felt a little like his medicine might be wearing off, or maybe it was because his mind was still fuddled with sleep.He practiced meditative breathing until they finally landed, and then heaved a large sigh of relief once the wheels touched the ground.

A moment later it hit him that _he was in another country_ and had really left his family behind. For a moment his heart fluttered up into his throat, and he reached a hand up as if to clench it, maybe to bring it back down. His hand fell upon his chest where his heart really was and he clenched the material of his shirt, breathing through his nose and out of his mouth for a few moments to settle his nerves again.

He was really on his own! This was his first adult trip without being able to hang on a member of his family or a friend. He was off on his own-- in a completely new country, without knowing anyone who might possibly live there-- and he was taking up a job without having anyone else to depend on. There would be the people who worked for the au pair program, but they didn’t count, not really. They weren’t people he knew. They were people whose job it was to help him if something were to come up, but they wouldn’t be there for him in a real pinch.

“We’re unboarding,” the lady told him helpfully again, when Tweek was still lost in thought while everyone around them was getting up to leave. Tweek jolted and apologized hurriedly, clambering to his feet and kicking his legs about a little to work the feeling back into them. He quickly grabbed his carry-on before shuffling to follow the line out of the airplane, heart still beating a little too fast to be normal.

His layover was for at least five hours, which wasn’t something he’d been looking forward to. He was sure he could find something to do though, and now he was wide awake. His jet lag crash later was going to be awful, he just knew it. Tweek walked around the airport and took in where everything was. His stomach grumbled about an hour after landing, reminding him that he had only really ate that meal on the plane and nothing else. His mother had offered to make him something for breakfast, but Tweek’s nerves were too strung out for food to settle comfortably in his stomach.

That meant he had to find somewhere to eat. He could eat at one of the fast food places, or even at the sit down restaurant the airport had. He chose the fast food instead, because it’d be easier to go to the gate and camp out until his flight came in. After ordering a sandwich and selecting a drink, he made his way slowly in the direction he needed to be. He even found a good seat right near the gate so he could keep an eye out, and began to eat his meal quietly.

There were a lot of families at the gate he was waiting at, all chattering and the children playing together. It made him feel just a bit lonely, being here all by himself with no one to talk to. He could text his friends, but that would only hike up his phone bill later. He was planning on getting a new one once he was in Colorado. For now, he pulled out his 3DS-- Pip had been the one to encourage him to bring it-- and decided to play some games to pass the time.

Before he knew it five hours had flown past, and his plane had landed. It had to be cleaned before he could board, but his feelings were in a tizzy again, excitement and nerves fighting for dominance. He’d be in Denver in a little under four hours! He’d meet his new charge, and her father and he’d be able to settle into his new day-to-day life. He’d be lying if he didn’t admit he was super light headed just thinking about all the new responsibilities. Taking care of a child was a _lot_ different than taking care of beverages at his parents’ coffee shop.

“Boarding Flight 869 for Denver, Colorado at Gate B,” came a voice over the loudspeaker, and Tweek jumped to his feet. He gathered his things, threw the trash away from his meal a few hours ago, and shuffled to get back into line. He was nervous, yeah, he reasoned with himself, but he was also kind of looking forward to it. He’d be out of his parents reach, so he could take a class or two online and figure out what he was interested in. He liked coffee well enough-- was really good at making it, and people were always complimenting him on his drinks-- but he didn’t want to pursue it as his lifetime career goal.

“Thank you,” the woman at the gate said when he handed over his ticket. He smiled at her weakly when she handed it back, and then made his way onto the last flight he needed in his journey. This time he didn’t have a nice old lady seated next to him, because he was in the very middle with two people on either side of him. Both were children-- they looked around the age of the charge he would soon be taking care of-- with their parents off to the side.

Well, this was good practice! He’d pay attention to the children and see how they acted, and maybe it would help him later? At this point he was willing to take any help he could get. He tried to watch the little girl to his right and not seem too obvious about it. She was chipper and chattering away a mile a minute to a doll she held in her hand, having it dance across her lap. The little boy next to him was somber and reading a children’s book. He wondered what his charge would be like.

 _Molly_ , he corrected himself. He wondered what _Molly_ would be like. That was her name! He’d been given a little list of things about her that her father had filled out. As the plane began to take off-- Tweek had had the foresight to take his medicine before getting in line this time-- he began to mentally repeat what that list had said: _energetic, loves Disney princesses, enjoys pirate stories, hates broccoli, and has an imaginary pet bunny named Steven_. So far everything he had learned about her made Tweek curious what sort of kid she was.

Settling back in his seat, he closed his eyes and tried to catch one last nap before landing. It would probably be the last chance he got for uninterrupted sleep for quite some time, knowing how loud and suddenly children liked to rush into people’s time.

 _Molly,_ Tweek repeated to himself one last time, weighing the name, finding that he liked it. Then his mind turned towards the father: _Craig,_ he mentally mumbled. Craig Tucker, journalist for The Denver Times.

 _Craig Tucker,_ Tweek repeated. He wondered about the father a little more than he did about the child. There hadn’t really been much information to go on. They said Tweek would find out more once he met the man. He curiously debated over what age this Mr. Tucker could be. He had a six-year-old child and no wife, so maybe he was in his mid-thirties? Tweek mused over these things for the rest of the flight, eventually falling into a light doze without realizing it.


	3. Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Wasn’t that when you went out with Ruby?”
> 
> “Yeah!” Molly said loudly and grinned. “Aunt Ruby said I was good, so I deserved a treat.”
> 
> “Just like a dog,” Clyde agreed. “I like it.”
> 
> “No!” Molly told him angrily. “I’m not a doggy, Clyde!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [confetti falls from the ceiling] welcome to the third chapter! i'm sorry for the delay. i'm a piece of shit and there's no excuse for my procrastination. [here](http://mynxalicious.tumblr.com/post/120151446237/please-ignore-this-shitty-shitty-floor-plan-its) is a link to the floor plan for craig's house. just for future reference for everyone!

There were way too many people waiting around with signs at baggage claim. Tweek could barely look around without seeing random signs, and he furrowed his brows as he tried to find one with his name. He had his carry-on slung over his shoulder, along with his duffel balanced on top of his rolling suitcase. So far he hadn’t found any signs that looked even remotely like they were for him--

His eyes alighted on one that said “Richard Tweak” and he realized that of course that’s what it would say. He had to fill everything out with his legal name, not his nickname. He was so used to everyone calling him Tweek that sometimes he forgot not everyone knew about the name. Tweek began shuffling awkwardly through the crowds to get to the person holding the sign, a nervous smile twisting the edge of his lips.

The man holding the sign had brown hair and an easygoing smile. There was a little black haired girl standing next to him, tugging on his red jacket and peering up at him. That must be Molly, he realized with a jolt. Did that mean the brunette was--?

“H-hello,” he greeted as he came to a stop in front of them. They both turned their heads to peer at him, and he shifted a bit on his feet. “I’m R-Richard Tweak,” he told him and pointed at the sign. “Nice to m-meet you?”

The man in front of him-- a lot younger than Tweek had thought, they seemed to be about the same age-- grinned in response. “Hi!” he responded and allowed the sign to fall down so that he wasn’t holding it up anymore. “I’m Clyde, nice to meet you!” Tweek blinked in confusion. Clyde, not Craig? So this wasn’t-- “This is Molly Tucker. She was way excited to meet you, so I brought her with me to pick you up!”

The little girl took a step behind Clyde and peered around his leg up at Tweek. Her brows snapped together and her face didn’t look very excited or welcoming. She had a frown on her lips and she was clutching tightly to the fabric of Clyde’s jacket. Tweek forced himself to give her a smile as well. “H-hello, Molly,” Tweek told her and she just blinked up at him quietly. She almost looked a bit suspicious. Clyde rubbed the back of his neck.

“She’s a bit shy at first, but she’ll open up to you real quick! Once she starts talking, there’s no way you can get her to shut up--” He broke off with a curse when Molly stomped her foot atop his. Clyde bent over to rub it and glare at the six-year-old. “Dude, you’re just like your dad, you know? Such a jerk.”

“Aunt Ruby says I’m amazing,” Molly told him with a little sniff. Clyde rolled his eyes.

“Amazingly obnoxious,” he fired back, before standing up straight again and smiling at Tweek. “Here, let me take one of your bags!” He shuffled forward and picked up the duffel, and Tweek tried to tell him he didn’t have to, but Clyde waved him off. “Nah, I insist. Come on, follow me! We parked in the garage that’s this way.”

Tweek really wanted to ask where Molly’s father was, but figured it might be a bit rude. He’d find out soon enough. It wasn’t like they could keep the information from him forever. “O-oh!” Tweek said and stopped walking, causing both Clyde and Molly to grind to a halt too. “I’m, uh, s-supposed to show you,” he trailed off saying as he moved his hands into his messenger bag, bringing out the paperwork. “To v-verify who I-I say I a-am.”

Clyde blinked owlishly before seeming to snap out of it. “Oh, yeah, right!” He took a step forward and plucked the papers from Tweek’s hands, glancing over them before handing them back. “I forgot Craig said I had to show you this too,” he muttered as he slid his hand into his back pocket, pulling out similar paperwork. “Here you go! So you don’t have to feel like we’re some randos.”

Tweek took the papers from Clyde and glanced over them himself. It was just information verifying who was supposed to pick him up, along with the paperwork that had been given to Craig to tell him more about Tweek. “T-thanks,” he mumbled and handed the papers back. Clyde waved them in the air for a moment as if to say no problem, before shoving it back into his pocket.

“Hey, are you hungry?” he asked as they began walking again, probably towards the garage Clyde had mentioned earlier. “I know they don’t serve the best food in airports and sh-- stuff.” Clyde’s eyes dropped down to Molly, who was marching along next to him, before looking up at Tweek with a guilty smile. Tweek took that to mean that they were supposed to try not to curse around her. That was fine! Tweek had figured that would be a rule anyway.

“Uhm, I’m okay,” Tweek told him politely. “I a-ate something before flying in.”

“Yeah, but that would have been hours ago, right?” Clyde asked as he shoved open the door that led to the walkway attached to the garage. “It’s no big. We can stop to get something to eat. Molly here can eat like a racehorse! She’s probably hungry anyway. It’s almost lunch time.”

Molly turned-- when had she gotten a little ahead of them? Tweek would have to endeavor to pay more attention to her in the future-- and stuck her tongue out at Clyde. “You just don’t wanna cook when we get home!” she told him. She turned to glance at Tweek for a moment, seeming to weigh him up, before saying, “Clyde sucks at cooking. Daddy said he nearly burned down his own apartment once!”

“Hey, that’s slander!” Clyde told her and raced forward to pinch her sides, making her squeal in surprise. “I’m going to tell your daddy you’re talkin’ trash about me, little girl!”

“Daddy wouldn’t believe you!” she yelled over her shoulder as she ran ahead, still giggling. “I’m his little angel!”

Clyde rolled his eyes and slowed down so he was walking next to Tweek again. “This is my car,” he pointed out as they reached a beat up sedan, grinning. “A beauty, right?”

“U-uhm,” Tweek muttered as he waited for Clyde to unlock the doors. “S-sure. It runs, so…”

“Daddy says it’s sucky,” Molly chimed in from the backseat, where Clyde was helping her to get situated. Tweek lugged his bags into the trunk that Clyde had popped open for him, a small smile on his lips. “He says that Clyde should buy a new car already.”

“Clyde isn’t wasting money on something that isn’t broken, ya hooligan,” Clyde shot back. “Stop quoting your daddy. He’s a big pain in my butt.” They seemed like they got along very well, and Tweek was enjoying the banter. It was really helping him to feel more at ease around Molly too. She didn’t seem like a bad kid at all. Feisty and snarky, but not bad. Tweek buckled himself in as Clyde slid into the driver’s seat.

“So you’re…?” Tweek began as Clyde backed out, finally asking one of the questions he’d been curious about. Clyde blinked over at him as he maneuvered the car through the garage, and then a light went on behind his eyes to show he’d caught on.

“I’m Craig’s childhood best friend,” he explained. “Craig’s busy with work today, or else he would have picked you up. Since it’s Saturday and I don’t have anything to do-- I’m an elementary school teacher, you know, I get the weekends off-- I offered to pick you up! I also watch Molly on the weekends, though I guess I won’t be doing that anymore with you around, huh?”

Tweek nodded. “R-right,” he responded. Clyde shot him a grin.

“Though if you ever need anything, I’m going to give you my cell number so you can call. I’m usually pretty bored during the weekends, and I’ll probably be even more so once you take this little munchkin off my hands.” He yanked his chin towards the rear view mirror, as if to illustrate who he was referring to. Molly didn’t seem to be paying attention anymore, playing with two Disney princess dolls and talking to herself. “So I saw you’re about our age, huh?”

“Our?”

“Yeah. Mine and Craig’s,” Clyde supplied. That threw out the idea that Craig was an older father. Tweek’s own age? That was kind of… Tweek couldn’t even imagine having a kid at his age, let alone a six-year-old. “I saw on the paperwork. You’re a few months younger, but hey. We still woulda been in the same grade, you know?”

“Yeah,” Tweek replied. “I’m twenty-three.”

“I’m twenty-four,” Clyde told him with a grin. They were finally pulling out of the garage, and the bright light momentarily blinded Tweek. He placed a hand over his eyes to shield them and peered out of the windows as they began to drive away from the airport. “So what did you do before you became an… god, what did Craig call it? Au pair, right?”

“I worked as a barista,” Tweek told him. “My parents own a coffee chain in London. I worked there while going to university part time.”

“Oh yeah?” Clyde seemed to have no problems juggling a conversation while driving. Tweek didn’t have his license, but he wasn’t sure if he could do it as effortlessly as the brunette if he did. “That’s real interesting. What was your major? If you don’t mind me asking. You can tell me to shut up if you don’t want me to be asking all these questions. Craig says I run my mouth more than I should.”

“N-no, it’s okay,” Tweek muttered. “I don’t mind. I, uhm. Didn’t r-really have a major? It was just g-general studies. I was getting m-my cores out of the way.”

“Cool,” Clyde said. “I teach fourth grade. It’s pretty hectic, but I really love it, you know? Kids can be alright sometimes.”

“I’m awesome all the time,” Molly supplied from the backseat, apparently tuning back into the conversation. “That’s what Daddy says.”

“Your daddy says a lot of stuff,” Clyde replied, “but most of the things he says he’s wrong about, you know. You’re a little monster.”

“Am not!” Molly yelled.

“Are too!” Clyde sang back.

“You’re going to be my babysitter now?” Molly asked, leaning forward as far as her seatbelt allowed so she could peer at Tweek’s face. Clyde made to respond, but Molly seemed to realize her mistake. “Or, uhm. Ah par?”

“Au pair,” Tweek corrected gently, and smiled a little. “I’m, u-uhm. I’m here to help your d-dad out and watch you when he’s not able to.”

“Oh,” Molly said, and went back to peering down at her dolls. She frowned something fierce as she seemed to mull this over. “You’re not going to replace him, right?”

“N-no! No way,” Tweek told her. “I’d be a lousy replacement.”

Molly cracked her first grin at him, and giggled. “Yeah!” she agreed. “My Daddy is pretty great. No one can replace him.”

“I-I’m just here to, like, watch you and stuff. We’ll p-probably do fun things together and your homework a-and other things,” Tweek explained. It was most of what he had been told when he had finished signing all the official paperwork. Tweek wasn’t sure what kind of fun things to do with a six-year-old little girl though. Was he going to have to play a lot of dress up? He’d probably know more if he’d ever had a sister, but Pip was the only sibling he had.

“Like what?”

“Go to m-museums and stuff, I guess?” Tweek responded. “Whatever we want, as long as it’s o-okay with your dad.”

“He’d probably like you taking me to boring learning things like that,” Molly grumped. “He’s always telling me I gotta do my homework and pay attention to school and things.”

“Well he’s right,” Clyde slid into the conversation easily. “You’re just like him when he was your age. You put your homework off and complain like it’s everyone else’s fault but yours that you did it!”

“Do not!” Molly yelled, looking offended and indignant.

“Do too!” Clyde hollered back. They pulled into a parking lot and Tweek blinked in surprise. He hadn’t even realized they had been driving that long. He must have been really wrapped up in the conversation.

“Are we getting pizza?” Molly wondered from the backseat. “Because if we’re getting those stupid sandwiches again--”

“Those sandwiches weren’t stupid, how dare you,” Clyde responded, parking and placing a hand over his heart. “I am offended you would say such a thing. They were amazing.”

“Nuh uh,” Molly groused. “They had too much green stuff.”

“That’s g-good for you,” Tweek told her. Molly blinked at him for a moment before screwing up her face in disgust.

“I don’t want to eat them though.”

“Me e-either, but it helps you to grow up right,” Tweek told her as he and Clyde got out of the car. Tweek walked around to the other side to help Molly out, while Clyde gathered his things and then blinked owlishly at him. Tweek shrugged it off as he helped Molly out of the car and placed her on her feet, letting her brush over her dress and make sure it was okay.

“Thanks,” Clyde told him as they walked towards the front door for the restaurant. Tweek just waved it off. This was his job now, right? He might as well get a head start on it. Molly walked between them as they entered, and Clyde grinned down at her. “You’re gonna like this, Molls. It’s even better than those sandwiches.”

“It wouldn’t take much,” Molly sniped, sniffing in distaste. Clyde stuck his tongue out at her, and Molly was quick to mimic the action.

“For three?” The worker asked with a pleasant smile. Tweek nodded, and they all followed to the table picked out for them. Menus were placed in front of them, and then the hostess told them, “Your waiter will be right with you,” before heading off.

“Let’s get you some kid’s pizza,” Clyde said as he glanced over the menu.

“Cookie, please!” Molly chirped from her seat, kicking her feet about. Tweek blinked at her in confusion, and then looked at Clyde. Clyde just shook his head. “I want cookie pizza,” she told Tweek when she noticed he looked lost. “Daddy let me have some last week.”

“That was for your dessert,” Clyde told her. “Wasn’t that when you went out with Ruby?”

“Yeah!” Molly said loudly and grinned. “Aunt Ruby said I was good, so I deserved a treat.”

“Just like a dog,” Clyde agreed. “I like it.”

“No!” Molly told him angrily. “I’m not a doggy, Clyde!”

“Coulda fooled me,” Clyde told her, before looking over at Tweek. “Do you have any sort of pizza you like more, or you good with me ordering pepperoni?”

“O-oh, that’s fine,” Tweek told him. He was starting to feel a little bad, because it was looking like Clyde intended on paying. Tweek had some money. He’d make sure to pay Clyde back, even though it seemed like he was the sort to wave it off. “I like pepperoni.”

“Pepperoni it is then,” Clyde crowed with glee and snapped the menu shut with finality. The rest of the lunch was spent chattering about little things-- Clyde told him more about his job at the school, Tweek told him a little about his own family-- while they all ate. Molly occasionally piped up with a comment or two, but otherwise she focused on eating and staring out the window. Most of what she said was about her dad, who was apparently a very favorite topic of hers from the fond smile Clyde would shoot her each time she’d bring up Craig.

“I’ve got it,” Clyde told him when Tweek tried to pay for his share. “Consider it a _welcome to the states_ kind of present! Pizza in Denver! Couldn’t ask for better.”

“Well,” Tweek mumbled as he put his wallet back away, “thanks, Clyde.”

“Come on, pipsqueak!” Clyde said once he had paid and stood up. “We gotta get you home and get your au pair settled in!”

“Daddy says it’s my job to help you trasition--”

“Transition,” Clyde corrected.

“Yeah. That,” Molly agreed. Tweek smiled a little as he helped Molly into her car seat, buckling her in before going to his own door. He looked at Clyde over the roof of the sedan to find him grinning back.

“Good luck with that,” he told Tweek. “She’s a wild child. I don’t know how much help she’s gonna be getting used to things.”

“Daddy says--”

“Daddy lies,” Clyde sung back to her as he started the car. The rest of the drive was peaceful, though occasionally Molly would say something random while staring out the window at passing scenery. Clyde turned on some music so the conversation died out for the most part, which Tweek was grateful for. He was getting tired and didn’t know how much longer he could keep having polite chit-chat. Tweek had gotten a lot better over the years, talking to people he hardly knew and acting polite, but it still drained him by the end of the day. He was sure he could handle this, but… it would take a lot of adjusting.

“Home!” Molly screeched from the backseat. Tweek cringed from the unexpectedness of it, but Clyde didn’t even flinch. This was probably a normal occurrence, which hinted to Tweek that he should get used to it as well. “Daddy! Daddy!”

“Your dad isn’t here, silly,” Clyde told her. “You know he doesn’t get off till late.”

Tweek turned to catch Molly’s smile turn to a frown, her little arms crossing over her chest as she pouted. They parked in front of the small house and Clyde turned the car off. “This is it,” he told Tweek as he clambered out of the door, leaving Tweek to hurry after. Clyde got to Molly first and helped her out, setting her down on her feet so she could begin a march towards the front door. “There’s a bus line not too far away from here, in that direction,” Clyde pointed helpfully, “and there are some grocery stores and such that way too. I’m sure Google can help you figure out the bus lines and shit.”

They got his bags out of the trunk and then began to shuffle after Molly, who was already at the front door and doing a little jig. “Potty!” she told them as if they hadn’t already figured it out. Clyde started to move a little faster to open up the house and let her inside first. She darted off further into the house, probably to hurry to the bathroom before she wet herself.

“Thankfully she’s old enough to handle herself in there,” he told Tweek as he set his bag down next to the front door. Tweek moved in after him and stepped aside so Clyde could shut and lock the door. “She won’t need too much help. She even bathes herself now, though you’ll have to remind her a lot about it. Craig says she’s just like him when he was younger: hates doing chores, and hates watching after herself without reminders.”

“Okay,” Tweek said, already making an inner list of things he needed to remember. He would have to write a lot of this down once he could fumble his pad of paper out of his carryon. “A-anything else?”

“I think Craig has a whole freaking pamphlet for you,” Clyde mumbled as he wandered down the hall and into an open archway to the right. Tweek followed along after him to find that it was the kitchen, with an open floor plan into the dining room. When he glanced about he noticed that another archway directly across-- to the left from the entry hallway-- would lead into the living room. “Here it is,” Clyde said as he plucked up a stack of papers from the kitchen counter, holding it out for Tweek to take. “He, like, went all crazy parent and typed out everything for you. Molly is one of the only things he’s super crazy about. I guess I’d be the same if I had a kid, I don’t know since I don’t have one, but Craig only gets riled up when it comes to her. Just as a heads up.”

“Thanks,” Tweek told him as he glanced down at the papers, all typed up and neatly organized. There were even bullet point lists and color coded sections. He would have to read this over more carefully once he had some time to do it.

“Anyway, the rooms are back here,” and Clyde waved so that Tweek would know to follow. He hadn’t even realized that the back of the dining room flowed directly into a hallway. “It also leads over to the living room, but this one here is Craig’s room.” Clyde stopped to knock smartly against the door before continuing on. “This one is your room, right in the middle. Molly got to pick her own room this time when Craig moved in a few months ago, so hers is at the end down there.”

The door for Tweek’s new room was open and it was pretty barren, which he wasn’t surprised over. There was a bed, a dresser, and a closet with windows on the rolling doors. A desk was pushed into a corner with a cheap plastic chair. It was the basics, but it was better than nothing. “The bathroom?”

“Unluckily for you guys there’s only one,” Clyde said and turned to walk back around a corner into the dining room. “There’s a door into it on either side, one through here and the other through the living room.”

“Right,” Tweek responded, because nothing else came to mind to say to that. It would be a bit irksome in the mornings to only have one bathroom, but he figured they could make it work. He didn’t know what Craig’s schedule was, but Molly’s was pretty concrete. She had school in the mornings that she’d have to get ready for, and Tweek would have to be up and at ‘em to make sure she was prepared for the day.

Clyde clapped his hands together, jarring Tweek out of his thoughts. “Alright!” he said in a loud, cheerful voice and grinned. “I think that’s it, really. Craig has my number in that pamphlet and you can use his landline to contact me if you ever need to. We should definitely do something together though! On one of your off days. It’d be fun. We could go to the mall or something. I don’t know. What sort of things did you do for fun in London?”

“School work,” Tweek replied, completely deadpan. “I d-didn’t really go out all that m-much. I worked at my parents coffee shop and did my college work. O-oh, I went to my best f-friend’s stand up routines. He just got a part time gig at a nightclub sort of p-place actually.”

“Dude, we should do something like that some time. Then you can write home to your friend and tell him about the comedians out here or whatever. It’d be fun.”

Tweek nodded. “S-sure. Whenever I’m off next or something.”

“Cool,” Clyde said and stood there smiling, not making a move to leave or anything else. He just continued to peer at Tweek while the blond blinked owlishly back. After a minute of this Clyde seemed to snap out of it, tilting his head back and yelling, “Did you fall in!?” at the bathroom door.

“No,” Molly’s muffled response came a moment later and then the toilet flushed. The water at the sink turned on a moment later, and then Molly came out once she was done. She stared up at Clyde and pouted. “You’re leaving?”

“Yup,” Clyde told her. “I got some stuff to do. Errands to run. Friends to hang out with who are cooler than you.”

“Mean!” Molly yelled and stomped off down the hall towards her bedroom.

“Don’t miss me too much!”Clyde hollered after her, then turned to wave at Tweek. “Your spare keys are on your desk. Craig told me to remember to tell you that before I left. If you need anything else, I’m sure he details it in that ridiculous book of his. See you around, Tweek!”

“B-bye,” Tweek said and watched as Clyde headed towards the front door, a moment later the sound of it shutting reaching Tweek’s ears. He was now alone in a house he most definitely wasn’t familiar with, with a kid he didn’t really know all that much. His own life choices were starting to really stare him in the face right about now. “Uhm,” he muttered and then headed towards Molly’s room. Might as well see if she wanted to chat more or needed something.

“You have a n-nice room,” Tweek told her when he stood in the doorway, peering around it curiously. Molly was sprawled in the middle with a few dolls around her, playing with one that had curly, red hair. She turned to stare at him when he spoke, peering over her shoulder. “That’s M-Merida, right? From that Disney movie.”

“Yeah,” she replied and then went back to her doll. She didn’t seem like she needed anything. “She’s my favorite.”

“My brother went and saw that movie,” Tweek said after an awkward silence stretched a little too long. “He said he l-liked it. I never saw it though.”

Molly turned around fully to face Tweek this time, furrowing her brows at him. “You haven’t seen it?”

“Nope.”

She seemed to chew this over, looking thoughtful. “Do you want to? Clyde won’t let me watch it anymore, ‘cause it’s all I watch. Daddy bought the movie for me for my birthday.”

“Oh, sure,” Tweek said quickly. Anything would be better than doing nothing! “Let me just put my bags away, okay? And then we can s-start it.”

Molly had already gotten to her feet and moved to step around him into the living room. “Okay,” she told him easily as she headed towards a large flat screen and an entertainment center stuffed full of movies. “I’ll get it ready.”

“Right,” Tweek said as he hurried to do what he’d said he was going to. Maybe they could use this as a bonding exercise! He had read that you should try to bond with your charges and that kind of stuff. Molly said Merida was her favorite, so clearly she’d feel happier after watching the movie! Yes, Tweek liked the sound of this plan.

Once his bags were in his new room, Tweek headed back to the living room with pamphlet in hand. He’d have to glance through it while the movie played. As long as everything had easy to follow steps, he was sure he could manage this new job and his new charge.

He just had to be careful not to let himself get overwhelmed.


End file.
